- Ethiopia: Blasts reported in capital hours after regime banned drone flights
Source: Associated Press
“A series of blasts were heard across the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Wednesday night, hours after the government banned the use of drones and as fighting continued in the northern region of the country. An intelligence service official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed that there had been three blasts in three different locations but declined to provide further details. A diplomatic source who requested anonymity for his safety described hearing a blast at 7 p.m. near the defense headquarters, followed by a siren. Residents near the defense headquarters also said they heard a blast near a factory in the area past midnight. It remains unclear whether the blasts were related to an attack or were part of training exercises at the defense headquarters.” (10/01/26)
https://apnews.com/article/ethiopia-blasts-tigray-war-a864e8cd442bade4531b8e7609f3216c
- Japan: Regime hikes permanent residency fees, tightens other requirements
Source: United Press International
“Japan hiked its permanent residency fee for foreigners living in the country on Thursday to $1,266, a 2,000% rise, along with new minimum requirements covering income, pensions and Japanese-language ability. The changes, in line with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s immigration reforms in response to the country’s rapidly expanding community of non-Japanese, saw long lines at immigration offices in recent days of people trying to get in their applications before the higher charges — first rise in 50 years — kicked in. … other changes, including income above Japan’s average annual household income, proficiency in Japanese on a par with an ‘independent user’ and a pension with projected benefits similar to a 30-year employee pension on an equivalent income are scheduled to come into force next April, with the earnings requirement back-dated to applications made from April 2026.” (10/01/26)
- FL: County regime discovers mysterious Flock cameras with no obvious owner
Source: Washington Post
“Like many Florida municipalities, officials in St. Lucie County recently decided to get rid of all their automated license-plate readers made by Flock, the company whose cameras have drawn scrutiny over police misuse and data privacy concerns. County officials thought they had 52 of the cameras — which law enforcement agencies use to record passing vehicles’ license plates as well as the time and location of each sighting — scattered across the county’s main roads on Florida’s east coast. But as they prepared to remove them, they discovered 14 more that they hadn’t known about and that the county hadn’t permitted.” [editor’s note: It’s unclear whether these cameras are on government or private property; if the latter, why would the government need to “permit” them? – TLK] (10/01/26)
- France: Hundreds held, dozens wounded as protests over conditions in schools escalate
Source: euronews [EU]
“French security forces detained more than 600 people while dozens of police and gendarmes were wounded as protests that have seen blockades of high schools and violent clashes escalated, the interior minister said on Wednesday. The movement in the lycées, attended by students aged 15 to 18 for their final three years of secondary education in France, has angered the government. Since last week, students have staged protests outside schools over grievances ranging from timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers to overheated classrooms during this year’s heatwaves. The protests started in the Île-de-France region around Paris but have now spread to other cities nationwide.” (10/01/26)
- Alabama regime joins Arkansas’s, Louisiana’s in SCOTUS bid to let them make medical laws for the other 47 states
Source: Alabama Political Reporter
“Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined the attorneys general of Arkansas and Louisiana in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block abortion shield laws in three states. Marshall joined the attorneys general of Arkansas and Louisiana in filing a lawsuit Wednesday, arguing that California, Massachusetts and New York are interfering with Alabama’s ability to enforce its abortion ban. The case asks the Supreme Court to invalidate laws that protect abortion providers from investigations, prosecutions and other legal action originating in states where abortion is prohibited. … Federal regulations allow abortion pills to be prescribed through telehealth and dispensed by mail, meaning a provider in a state where abortion remains legal can potentially prescribe medication to a patient in a state with an abortion ban.” (10/01/26)
https://www.alreporter.com/2026/10/01/alabama-joins-supreme-court-challenge-to-abortion-shield-laws/
- Egypt: Police Arrest All Six Journalists of Investigative Outlet
Source: US News & World Report
“Egyptian police arrested six journalists from a fact-checking and investigative media outlet, accusing them of spreading misinformation on behalf of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, which the publication denied. The arrests comprised the entire newsroom of Matsaddash, a digital platform that has operated since 2018, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), which is providing the journalists with legal representation. According to the EIPR, plainclothes security personnel had started raiding the journalists’ homes on Monday evening and confiscated electronic devices.” (10/01/26)
- China’s carmakers eye record 12 million overseas sales in 2026 as ‘go global’ plan pays off
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“Chinese automotive groups have cause to celebrate their go-global strategy amid breakneck export growth in recent years, with deliveries in 2026 expected to beat expectations already buoyed by an international energy shock caused by conflict in the Middle East. Leading carmakers from BYD to Chery Automobile have doubled down on overseas expansion, with some evolving into powerful contenders in markets such as Europe and Africa, which were once dominated by the likes of Volkswagen. … The government-backed industry body recently forecast that overseas Chinese vehicle sales – which comprise passenger cars, buses and lorries – could top 12 million units in 2026, up 44 per cent from last year’s 8.3 million.” (10/01/26)
- Study: Surprising culprit tied to 1 in 8 cancer cases worldwide
Source: Fox News
“About one in eight new cancer cases worldwide in 2024 — 2.3 million cases — have been linked to infections, according to a new analysis from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The researchers identified 12 specific infections that were linked to human cancer cases, including Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, Schistosoma haematobium, HTLV-1, Opisthorchis viverrini, Clonorchis sinensis, Merkel cell polyomavirus and HIV. The following five infections contributed to nearly all the global cases: H. pylori, ~760,000 cases; HPV, ~750,000 cases; HBV, ~360,000 cases; EBV, ~260,000 cases; HCV, ~160,000 cases.” (10/01/26)
- Poll: Most Americans blame Trump for high prices as midterms approach
Source: Seattle Times
“Americans are deeply frustrated with President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy and rising prices, with most panning his performance and blaming his policies as higher costs threaten his party’s chances in November. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only 17% of U.S. adults approve of the Republican president’s handling of the cost of living. Just 26% approve of his handling of the economy overall, marking a new low. A majority, 65%, of U.S. adults now blame Trump’s policies for persistently high costs more than factors outside of his control, signaling growing weariness over his aggressive use of tariffs and continued unhappiness with the war with Iran.” (10/01/26)
- Swiss glaciers lose over 5% of ice volume in 2026 as heat waves, low winter snow accelerate thaw
Source: ABC News
“Glaciers in Switzerland – the home to the most in the Alps – lost 5.5% of their ice volume this year, the second-biggest percentage drop on record due to heat waves and low winter snowfall, experts report. ‘Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions,’ the GLAMOS Swiss glacier monitoring service and Swiss Academy of Sciences said in a statement released Thursday. The trend has worsened in recent years: Over the past five years alone, the volume of ice in Switzerland has declined by nearly a fifth, the experts say.” (10/01/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/swiss-glaciers-lose-5-ice-volume-2026-heat-136905312
- EU officials meet to strengthen border agency as refugee sues over alleged abuses in Libya
Source: SFGate
“European Union officials met Thursday to strengthen border controls and curb migration as activists presented new evidence they say shows the bloc’s border agency provides surveillance data to Libya’s coast guard to intercept migrants at sea. Home affairs ministers from the EU’s 27 countries gathered in Luxembourg to discuss border surveillance and other policies, including setting up ‘return hubs’ in third countries and efforts to increase deportations across the bloc. Ahead of the meeting, European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner said he would call for a vast expansion of Frontex, including new powers, more funding and a larger workforce. The EU has hardened its migration policy over the past decade, with most member countries supporting more deportations and stricter border controls.” (10/01/26)
- Bolivian attorney general blacklisted by US is arrested over alleged drug cartel ties, government source says
Source: CBS News
“Bolivian police arrested Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Wednesday, two days after the United States revoked his visa over alleged links to drug trafficking, a government source told AFP. ‘The arrest of Prosecutor Mariaca has been confirmed,’ said a source from the Ministry of Government, who requested anonymity. Santa Cruz prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, who has likewise been sanctioned by Washington, was also arrested, according to local media. Both were among the nearly 20 people from Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador whom the U.S. State Department accused this week of corruption, links to drug trafficking, or conspiring against their respective governments.” (10/01/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bolivia-attorney-general-roger-mariaca-arrested-drug-cartel-ties/
- US Regime Tells French, German Regimes to Release Diesel Stocks or Face US Export Ban, Sources Say
Source: US News & World Report
“The Trump administration has told Germany and France to draw down emergency diesel inventories to help to ease global fuel prices or face a potential US diesel export ban, said three people close to the discussions. The warning marks an escalation of pressure on Europe as US President Donald Trump considers a potential diesel export ban to bring down US fuel prices ahead of November’s midterm elections.” (10/01/26)
- Trump regime tries to buy votes with Obamacare refund checks in 30 states
Source: Fox News
“The Trump administration is issuing refund checks to about 1 million Americans, accompanied by a personal letter from President Donald Trump, to people the administration says were overcharged for Obamacare. An administration official told Fox News Digital that the U.S. Treasury began issuing $500 refund checks to more than 950,000 Americans across 30 states. Each refund comes with a letter from Trump himself, a copy of which was obtained by Fox News Digital. ‘For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov,’ the letter says. ‘That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I’m returning it to you!'” (10/01/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-handing-1-million-americans-obamacare-refund-checks-30-states
- Pentagon excludes key allies from NATO meeting
Source: Politico
“The Trump administration is excluding several major allies from a gathering of NATO members next month — after previous threats to deploy a ‘naughty and nice list’ against governments that have run afoul of the president’s priorities. The planned meeting in Poland, which Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has spearheaded, is essentially a working group focused on NATO’s future, according to six diplomats familiar with the planning. But many of the countries who didn’t receive an invite — such as the United Kingdom, France and the Baltic countries — are big defense spenders and play key roles in the alliance, leaving their diplomats wondering why they’re being frozen out.” (09/30/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/30/trump-nato-allies-left-out-01100310
- 10-year US Treasury yield hits highest level since 2002 as global bond rout gathers pace
Source: CNBC
“U.S. Treasury yields hit their highest level in more than two decades on Thursday as a global bond sell-off deepened. The 10-year Treasury yield breached a level last seen in April 2002, rising 4 basis points to 5.3338%, according to LSEG data. The figure is key to rates for mortgage borrowing, auto loans and credit card debt. … Government borrowing costs rose around the world on Thursday, continuing a months-long trend as investors express concerns over a lack of political action to tackle fiscal deficits, while inflation remains sticky and interest rates rise.” (10/01/26)
- AZ: SCOTUS denies state’s bid to delay start of takeover of healthcare in state prisons
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an eleventh-hour bid by the state of Arizona to block the upcoming start of a court-ordered takeover of healthcare operations in its prisons after the state was found to have provided constitutionally inadequate care to incarcerated people and dragged its feet for over a decade in making required improvements. The state’s request to delay the start date was denied Thursday by Justice Elena Kagan, leaving an outside corrections professional to take over healthcare management for 25,000 incarcerated people on Oct. 19. Arizona had asked the courts to delay the start date while it appealed both the takeover decision and the appointment of former Ohio corrections director Annette Chambers-Smith as the leader of the effort.” (10/01/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/supreme-court-denies-arizona-s-bid-to-delay-22458254.php
- OpenAI ‘reviewing’ report of failed hacking attempt against Canadian regime
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“OpenAI has confirmed that it is reviewing a report of a failed hacking attempt against a Canadian government body in the latest incident to highlight cybersecurity concerns about artificial intelligence. The AI giant said on Wednesday that it was reviewing the alleged cyberattack against Canada’s national archives agency and had provided an initial briefing to Canadian officials. … The attempted hacking, if confirmed, would be the first publicly known case of an AI-led cyberattack against Canada’s government, following a series of incidents of rogue agents targeting agencies in the United States and Australia.” (10/01/26)
- Judge approves Paramount Skydance settlement
Source: United Press International
“A federal judge approved a Paramount Skydance antitrust settlement with California and other states Wednesday, allowing the company’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery to move forward. The settlement, reached last week, resolves a lawsuit that 12 states’ attorneys general brought against the company. The lawsuit argued that the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would give the company too much control of the market.” (09/30/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/09/30/paramount-settlement-approved/4311790809689/
- Publisher’s Note: You Know What This Is About
Hey, everyone …
Yes, it’s “year-end fundraiser” time again. We keep our appeals limited to the occasional “we’re reader-supported” reminder nine months out of the year, but starting each October 1 we set a goal and hammer you every dang day with that goal until we make it.
The bare bones:
1) You can, and should, support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper at:
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
2) Our goal this year is $5,503, and reader GL has pledged to “match funds” for half of that, meaning we only need to raise $2,751.50 from the rest of our readers!
3) Once we’ve reached the goal, we’ll stop talking about money ENTIRELY for the rest of the year, and MOSTLY for the first nine months of NEXT year.
As for trivial asides:
Why $5,503? Well, last year it was $5,501. I didn’t want to raise the goal TOO much because I know inflation hits you as hard as it hits us, so I just escalated to the next prime number (I have a thing about prime numbers).
How long have we been doing this? As Rational Review News Digest, for 24 years as of this coming December 23. As Freedom News Daily, since 1994. And before that was Libernet, dating to 1991, making us the libertarian movement’s oldest and longest-surviving daily Internet news and commentary roundup.
So, again: Please support us, based on your assessment of how much value you find in our work, at …
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
… and have a great day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
- Prices as a Map for Minds That Can’t Know Everything
Source: EconLog
by Joy Buchanan“If such [a ‘self-sovereign’ AI] agent existed, how would it find its way around an economy? It cannot read the minds of the millions of strangers whose choices determine what is valuable. It does not automatically know that a mine flooded yesterday, that a restaurant has empty tables tonight, or that a particular programmer suddenly has three free hours. What can it see? The answer, I think, is the same thing you and I look at: prices.” (10/01/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/prices-as-a-map-for-minds-that-cant-know-everything
- Education Department Calls for Transparency & Tolerance; Teacher Unions Cry Foul
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“The decline of higher education into an ideological echo chamber has been widely discussed on this and other sites. Polls show record lows in the public trust in our universities and colleges as revenues decline and closures increase. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon responded to this meltdown with a common-sense call for greater transparency and tolerance. The response from teacher unions has been nothing short of hysteria, led by Randi Weingarten at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Todd Wolfson at the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) — two of the most polarizing and political figures in teaching.” (10/01/26)
- The Supreme Court Just Consigned Migrants to Cruelty Far Beyond Their Crimes
Source: The UnPopulist
by Linda Chavez“On Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport immigrants to countries where they have no ties, with little or no notice and no meaningful chance to object. In a 6-3 decision, the Court’s conservative majority put on hold U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy’s ruling that the policy is unlawful until the justices consider the case, with arguments set for December. It is the third time the administration has asked the Supreme Court to block Murphy’s rulings, and the third time the Roberts Court has shamefully obliged. To see what that means in practice, consider what happened the first time the Court let these removals go forward.” (10/01/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-supreme-court-just-consigned
- The Pentagon’s Secret Budget
Source: The Intercept
by David Vine“Trump’s proposed budget hides $1 trillion in military spending from the public by spreading it across disparate government agencies.” (10/01/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/10/01/trump-military-true-cost-budget-pentagon-trillions/
- The Case for Good Faith
Source: Reason
by Katherine Mangu-Ward“To argue in good faith—the literal translation of the Latin—means assuming that the person on the other side is saying what he actually believes and that disagreement is not itself evidence of corruption, cowardice, or deceit. And vice versa. The assumption and practice of good faith makes intellectual debate possible. And yet it feels increasingly rare. Tell someone you favor free trade and you will quickly learn you are really serving the interests of multinational corporations. Defend immigration and you are importing voters. Oppose a war and you are carrying water for the enemy. Politics, in particular, seems to bring out this line of reasoning.” (10/01/26)
- Needed: New Progressive Leaders to Address US Foreign Policy Crisis
Source: Foreign Policy In Focus
by Phyllis Bennis“In this run-up to the 2026 mid-term elections, progressive movements and candidates remain caught up in the challenges of rising authoritarianism and militarism both at home and around the world. We are mobilizing against new US-Israeli wars against Iran and across the Middle East/West Asia region, including Israel’s US-enabled genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. We face explosive US bombing raids and illegal military interventions in Latin America, Africa, and beyond, as well as threats to Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and elsewhere — with President Donald Trump at the center of all of it. What’s different now compared to past crises is that many bold progressive leaders have won competitive primaries in this year’s midterms — often putting opposition to war and genocide at the center of their messaging.” (10/01/26)
https://fpif.org/foreign-policy-crisis-points-awaiting-the-next-generation-of-progressive-lawmakers/
- Trump wants more roads in the forests. Here’s the catch.
Source: Washington Post
by Sophie Gilbert“Mill City, Oregon, sits amid a patchwork of green. Across millions of acres at the base of the Cascades, deep-moss old-growth forests mingle with the bright lime of young trees recovering after timber harvests and fires. And roads thread through it all. Most of these forest roads were built in the last century to move ancient fir trees to the mills that gave the town its name. Today, only two mills remain, and the aging roads are a maintenance nightmare for the U.S. Forest Service. The massive Beachie Creek Fire of 2020 compounded the problem, damaging roads as well as Mill City and other nearby towns. Would more roads help or hurt places such as Mill City?” (10/01/26)
- A visit to Greenspan’s Washington and the era of getting things done
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jackie Calmes“For much of my life funerals were, well, funereal, as black as attendees’ attire. Yet in recent decades, I’ve found that I often leave memorial services less mournful than upbeat. They’re inspiring, these so-called celebrations of life, with eulogies not from impersonal priests but from people who knew the dead person best. Tributes are seasoned with humor and paeans to personal character more than professional accomplishments. I walk out thinking not about death but life — especially my own, and resolving to be a better person. This week I left such a service with a broader resolve: that our nation was once, and can be again, a better country. The celebration was for the full and varied life of Alan Greenspan, the legendary longtime chair of the Federal Reserve who died in June at 100.” (10/01/26)
- The Boys Are Alright-Looking But Not Actually Alright
Source: Persuasion
by Leonora Barclay“Being hot isn’t the same as being happy.” (10/01/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-boys-are-alright-looking-but
- A New (Fiscal) Year’s Resolution
Source: Law & Liberty
by Thomas Savidge“Keeping a resolution to restore fiscal order requires confronting the incentives that make promises attractive today and their financing easy to postpone. A new American fiscal constitution should make lawmakers reckon with those costs when they authorize those commitments.” (10/01/26)
- We Cannot Trust the CDC Estimates of Flu Vaccine Effectiveness
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Eyal Shahar“Each year the CDC publishes an estimate of the effectiveness of the flu vaccine in the previous flu season. Recently, the NIH director criticized the test-negative design from which the estimates are derived. He was right. The basic premise of the design is a two-edged sword: on the one hand, restricting the sample to people who sought medical care might reduce confounding by healthcare-seeking behavior; on the other hand, that restriction might add another type of bias — colliding bias — which is not as widely appreciated. The net bias remains unknown.” (10/01/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/we-cannot-trust-the-cdc-estimates-of-flu-vaccine-effectiveness/
- The First City to Price Fix Your Groceries
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Harmsworth“This week the Seattle City Council passed Mayor Katie Wilson’s ‘Fair Pricing and Transparency’ ordinance in a 7–2 vote, a first-in-the-nation ban on so-called surveillance pricing. The ordinance takes effect in 2027. The Washington Retail Association warned for months that the bill was rushed, would have significant and negative impact on prices, and that nearly all suggested fixes were ignored. As approved, retailers must decide whether they can keep offering the tailored discounts and loyalty programs that Seattle families actually use or cancel all the programs and charge more for groceries. Government should not be price-fixing consumer products. Banning the use of loyalty cards and programs, fuel rewards, and targeted coupons hurts businesses and consumers alike.” (10/01/26)
https://fee.org/articles/the-first-city-to-price-fix-your-groceries/
- Medicare for All Is an Awful Idea
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“We hear it every two years – some Democrat promising to solve all your problems by pushing ‘Medicare for All!’ It’s the cure for what ails you, they insist: your health insurance. But there is a lot about the healthcare industry, including insurance, that they don’t tell you. I will. This year’s model of promising Utopia is Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. He has joined the Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) chorus insisting ‘free’ healthcare is just a vote away. We’ve heard this song before, and we’ve seen it around the world, too. It never ends up well for the people who fall for it. Abdul was unambiguous about his intentions, pledging to get rid of private health insurance completely for his government takeover. But what works well in Democrat primaries doesn’t necessarily sell all that well to normal people, and most people like their health coverage.” (10/01/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2026/10/01/medicare-for-all-is-an-awful-idea-n2683896
- Every Man a Slave? Huey Long as a Model for the Wrong Kind of Populism
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson“We know the Franklin Roosevelt regime from its famous (or infamous) New Deal—a mishmash of government intervention wrongly credited with ending the depression when, in fact, it extended it. Roosevelt’s first term was dominated by his attempt to reorganize the entire US economy into a series of government-sponsored cartels (the First New Deal), but, however radical the programs might have been, FDR was being attacked from the right (Father Charles Coughlin, a populist broadcaster) and Long, who came in from the left. Of the two, Long was seen as the greater political threat, but (at least for Roosevelt) he was ‘conveniently’ assassinated in 1935 in the Louisiana capitol where the bullet holes from the guns of the assassin, Carl Weiss, and Long’s bodyguards are still marked on the walls. (Guy Rexford Tugwell, one of FDR’s advisers, called the assassination ‘providential’).” (10/01/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/every-man-slave-huey-long-model-wrong-kind-populism
- ‘Primetime’ showcases our obsession with justice as spectacle
Source: USA Today
“Days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush gave the world a now-infamous ultimatum: ‘Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.’ Thus began the forever war on terror and a shift in the American psyche that sought the destruction of any perceived enemy as some sort of divine retribution for the horrific acts witnessed on 9/11. This thirst for justice led to the popularity of ‘To Catch a Predator,’ an early 2000s reality TV series on ‘Dateline NBC’ that used hidden-camera sting operations to catch adults who showed up to meet underage decoys for sex. It was unobjectionable on its surface. The objectively abhorrent people depicted on the show deserve to be held accountable for their perversion. But the show existed in a bevy of contradictions, particularly in how it blurred the line between entertainment and justice, ultimately collapsing in on itself.” (10/01/26)
- The Return of the Cutting-Off Way
Source: Liberal Currents
by Samantha Hancox-Li“Donald Trump’s administration is increasingly defined by its foreign policy adventures. To his critics these are the deadly flailings of a mad king; to his supporters these are strategic masterstrokes reshaping the globe to America’s advantage. What has been missed in the partisan hullabaloo is how Trump’s foreign policy actions are not in fact a result of his unique personality. They are a result of structural forces which can be observed the world over: the return of the cutting-off way.” (10/01/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-return-of-the-cutting-off-way/
- Why Apartments in Tokyo Are So Much Cheaper Than in NYC
Source: The Daily Economy
by Julia R Cartwright“Tokyo houses millions more people than New York, with a surprisingly simple affordability formula: let people build more housing.” (10/01/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-apartments-in-tokyo-are-so-much-cheaper-than-in-nyc/
- The AI Alignment That Can Save Us
Source: Washington Monthly
by Jonah Blank“One of many current controversies over artificial intelligence centers on ‘alignment’: A euphemism for ‘trying to build AI that won’t intentionally kill us all.’ That’s important, but it overshadows a more immediate concern: The misalignment not between AI and humans, but between humans. That is, the misalignment of interests between the people who own AI and the rest of us.” (10/01/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/10/01/the-ai-alignment-that-can-save-us/
- Trump’s Invasion of Iran Could Cost You Thousands
Source: OtherWords
by Amy Hanauer“Affordability is getting worse, especially if you have to drive to work or anywhere else. By late September, the total cost of the higher gas and diesel prices triggered by President Donald Trump’s war against Iran exceeded $103 billion, according to my organization’s analysis of the federal government’s energy data. And those higher prices aren’t showing any sign of slowing. If current trends hold, the price tag by the end of this year will approach $180 billion. For the average household, that comes out to $750 extra so far, and that figure is on pace to top $1,300 by year’s end. For a family of four with two drivers, those costs are even higher, topping $1,000 already and slated to be over $1,700 by the end of the year if the war continues.” (10/01/26)
https://otherwords.org/trumps-invasion-of-iran-could-cost-you-thousands/
- When Wikileaks Exposed the World: Assange Returns to Social Media
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Patrick Pillow“On September 17, Julian Assange’s return to Twitter/X did not go unnoticed. With more than fifty-one million impressions, it becomes clear his and WikiLeaks’[s] impact is undeniable. Still, his journalism and WikiLeaks have not come without scrutiny. Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin stated Assange should be ‘hunted down.’ Current U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said regarding his work, ‘whoever in our government leaked that information is guilty of treason, and I think anything less than execution is too kind a penalty.’ Meanwhile, former secretary of state and CIA Chief Mike Pompeo considered kidnapping and killing Julian Assange, according to reports from Yahoo News.” (10/01/26)
- The costs of the regulatory state
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“We have, a number of times, insisted that China is one of the most free market economies on the planet. Yes, obviously, there’s all that national planning and state ownership of industry and so on. Commanding heights and the Communist Party and all that. And yet at the ground level entry into a market is near entirely free of restriction. In that free to enter the market sense of free market it probably is that most free market economy too. In the professional life of one of us we’ve seen a Chinese company go from idea to production in the time it takes to do the environmental paperwork in Europe. We’re even willing to agree that total freedom to do just anything might not be optimal. But more absence of regulation and where that’s non-optimal less and faster seems like a good idea to us.” (10/01/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-costs-of-the-regulatory-state
- God, Man, and Academic Freedom
Source: Law & Liberty
by Robert P George“The 25-year-old William F. Buckley Jr. wrote God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of ‘Academic Freedom’ with an appreciation of the contributions made by leading universities in the United States, Great Britain, and elsewhere in the building of our civilization. His special concern was with the civic order, and the role of institutions of higher education in forming citizens of a constitutional democratic republic. As James Madison said, a ‘well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.’ But is there not a tension between two ideals: that of education for citizenship (especially in a republic—that is, a regime in which government is not only of and for the people, but also by the people themselves), and that of liberal education: the unrestricted pursuit of truth, understood not as a means to other ends, but as an end-in-itself?” (10/01/26)
- AI’s apparent danger is its best selling point
Source: UnHerd
by John P Ruel“While genuine concern exists, constant warnings from AI companies serve as both a marketing tool and consolidation strategy.” (10/01/26)
https://asiatimes.com/2026/10/ais-apparent-danger-is-its-best-selling-point/
- Just Say Uncool
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Something curious has happened to the young, a new government report suggests: ‘the number of high school students who use marijuana has decreased by almost half — 44 percent — since states started enacting adult-use legalization.’ … a standard argument against marijuana legalization: If marijuana is readily available, kids will increase usage of the ‘pernicious weed.’ Hasn’t happened! But why?” (10/01/26)
- The lynch mob is out for the “Cornell 7”, proving we’ve learned nothing from past injustices
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine“The ‘Cornell 7’ gang rape case is descending into the same lynch-mob hysteria as the notorious Duke lacrosse or ‘mattress girl’ hoaxes of old — only with social media making everything worse. It seems we have learned nothing from past injustices. A young woman who goes by ‘Jane Doe’ has filed a civil lawsuit two years after she alleged she was gang-raped by seven men in a sordid, drug-fueled sexual encounter at the Chi Phi fraternity house at the elite Cornell University, where she was a student at the time. Predictably, the fraternity brothers have been judged guilty in the court of man-hating public opinion. Yet, according to Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, citing Doe’s sworn statement to campus investigators in November 2024, she ‘described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as voluntary, conscious and consensual’. When she told the young men to stop, they did.” (09/30/26)
- For Ukrainians, a Bad Peace Beats a Worsening War
Source: The American Conservative
by Iuliia Mendel“It is time to talk about victory in the Russia–Ukraine War. Politicians and the media regularly use the word, yet it has come to signify nothing. In Ukraine, a political battle is breaking out over which narrative of victory will be accepted by the people. For some, a 10-year-old dancer with a prosthetic leg is a living advertisement for Ukraine’s ‘unbreakability.’ But a growing number of Ukrainians are done participating in that story. Incessant preaching about ‘resilience’ while the situation on the ground only worsens has exhausted their patience.” (10/01/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/for-ukrainians-a-bad-peace-beats-a-worsening-war/
- Genocide Hypocrites
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson“On October 7, 2023, Hamas killers slaughtered 1,200 people, more than two-thirds of them civilians, inside Israel. For the ensuing three weeks, they refused Israel’s demands to turn over the 251 hostages and to surrender the architects of the massacre. No matter; within a day of the attacks, when Hamas gunmen were still fighting Israeli troops on Israeli soil, the American Left was already screaming ‘genocide!’ They did not mean Hamas’s intended genocide of Jews, a foretaste of which was seen when it launched a surprise invasion force of more than 4,000 terrorists some 15 miles into Israel. The killers were accompanied by some 2,000 ‘innocent’ Gazan ‘civilians’. All were bent on looting, murder, rape, torture, and hostage-taking of the defenseless. Nor did the ‘genocide’ chorus refer to the more than 13,000 rockets, missiles, and drones launched from Gaza after October 7 that predominantly targeted Israeli civilian neighborhoods.” (10/01/26)
- They aren’t uniformed, but these US companies are fighting for Ukraine
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Ted Snider“Microsoft joins a host of other ideologically-driven tech defenders of Kviv. Some, like Palantir, are doing so while expanding profit margins.” (10/01/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-tech-companies-in-ukraine/
- Avoid the unsafe, dark places
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“My desire to feel safe is why you won’t find me wandering drunk down the middle of the highway on a moonless night. Or any other time. It’s smart to adapt your own behavior for the sake of your safety. What I won’t be doing is looking for ways to control you and violate your liberty so I can feel safe. I know violating people’s rights won’t make me safe. It would also be wrong. And weak. Government, as the primary violator of rights, can’t make you safe.” (09/30/26)
- Improving Species Recovery Act, Explained
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by McLean Albritton“More than 50 years after the ESA’s passage, the statute has succeeded in one important respect—99 percent of listed species have avoided extinction. But recovery, the ESA’s ultimate goal, has lagged far behind. Just 3 percent of listed species have recovered. And, according to PERC research, 96% of the recoveries federal agencies predicted have not happened. The sobering recovery numbers are a call to action for reforms to make the law work better.” (09/30/26)
https://www.perc.org/2026/09/30/improving-species-recovery-act-explained/
- Trump Is Reshaping IRS Rules to Defund Minority Programs and Empower Churches
Source: The UnPopulist
by Robert Tracinski“His motto is to use state power against his enemies and help his friends in the nonprofit world.” (09/30/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trump-is-reshaping-irs-rules-to-defund
- Being Forcefully Pro-Palestine Weeds The Terrible People Out Of Your Life
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Being forcefully pro-Palestine is the most efficient way to weed all the worst people out of your life. It takes care of them all. Zionists. Islamophobes. Apathetic narcissists. Unthinking herd-minded right wing ideologues. Abuser-enabling ‘both sides’ moral cowards. Emotionally stunted man-babies who turn every challenging conversation into an ‘allow me to play devil’s advocate’ mental exercise to avoid feeling normal human feelings. Leaned-back, too-cool-for-the-current-thing victims of western meta-irony brain rot. It’s like spraying yourself with asshole repellant. Supporting Palestine doesn’t automatically make you a good person; opposing genocide and apartheid is just the basic bare-minimum position we’re all morally obligated to take. But supporting Israel against the Palestinians absolutely does automatically make you a bad person.” (10/01/26)
- Nikole Hannah-Jones Fails the Test
Source: Independent Institute
by Brady Leonard“Her ideology failed her own daughter, and she has apparently learned nothing.” (09/30/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/09/30/nikole-hannah-jones/
- What happened? Or rather, what did NOT happen?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“On 31 January 2025, just a few days after The Donald took office for his second term and nominated his various cabinet officers, this graphic was published by some MAGA/MAHA types. People worried about the overall state of ‘health care’ (read, the Medical Industrial Complex) in the States, and hoping, praying, even expecting some things to start to improve. Looking back nearly two years, how many of these threats to human health and life have really, REALLY been addressed?” (09/30/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/09/30/what-happened-or-rather-what-did-not-happen/
- Time on Task
Source: The American Prospect
by Zachary Groz“The Trump administration has spent the past two years asserting broad executive powers and privileges with little historical precedent: imposing tariffs, executing mass deportations, deploying the National Guard in American cities, unilaterally halting permitted clean-energy development, sanctioning law firms and universities, firing civil servants and watchdogs, removing foreign heads of state, calling in drone strikes on fishing boats, withholding grants to states and nongovernmental agencies, bending banking rules, brokering critical minerals deals, and speeding up federal contracting, with many of these enriching the president’s family and their circle. Some orders have been brazen and public enough to generate blowback in court. But the infrastructure underlying them has remained in place. In fact, it’s continued to grow through a little-scrutinized mechanism of the federal government: the interagency task force.” (10/01/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/10/01/oct-2026-time-on-task-trump-law-enforcement/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 10/01/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Is Trump About To Invade Cuba?” (10/01/26)
- Libertarian Angle, 10/01/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Dark Legacy of the ‘Good War.'” (10/01/26)
- Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 10/01/26
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Ernest Hancock interviews Etienne de la Boetie2.” (10/01/026)
- The Headlines, 10/01/26
Source: New York Times
“What Newly Obtained Documents Show About the Cornell Case.” (10/01/26)
- Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 170
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“Nikole Hanna Jones'[s] Daughter Gives Mom An F .” (10/01/26)
- Underthrow Podcast, 10/01/26
Source: Underthrow
“What is the Proper Role of Government?” (10/01/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/what-is-the-proper-role-of-government
- Capital Record, episode 326
Source: National Review
“The American Dream, Human Flourishing, and The Bahnsen Group.” (10/01/26)
- The Briefing Podcast with Michael Waldman
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
“The Midterms, Built by the Roberts Court.” (10/01/26)
- The Political Orphanage, 10/01/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“The Man Who Killed Antitrust.” (10/01/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/the-man-who-killed-antitrust
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 10/01/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump TV Ads Backfire as New Poll Shows He’s Shockingly Toxic for GOP.” (10/01/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/216058/trump-tv-ads-backfire-new-poll-shows-he-shockingly-toxic-gop
- NPR Politics Podcast, 10/01/26
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“What’s on the Supreme Court docket this term?” (10/01/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/10/01/nx-s1-5987690/whats-on-the-supreme-court-docket-this-term
- Advisory Opinions, 10/01/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Not a MAGA Court.” (10/01/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/not-a-maga-court/
- Fountainhead Forum, episode 494
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Nicholas Provenzo on Lindsay Clancy and the Objective Law Initiative.” (09/30/26)
- The Moynihan Report, 09/30/26
Source: The Moynihan Report
“Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Joby Warrick on how 1970s terrorists wrote the playbook for today’s jihadists.” (09/30/26)
https://www.themoynihan.report/p/carlos-the-jackal-the-first-celebrity
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 406
Source: Free the People
“Parents Deserve Better from Their Schools | Guest: Paul Martino.” (09/30/26)
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 09/30/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Joe Terwilliger: Tensions Flare in East Asia as North Korea Tests Hypersonic Missiles!” (09/30/26)
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 10/01/26
Source: Politico
“Beshear’s red-state edge.” (10/01/26)
- Checks & Balances, 09/30/26
Source: Checks & Balances
“Is the Right Abandoning Its Own Principles?” (09/30/26)
https://chkbal.substack.com/p/is-the-right-abandoning-its-own-principles
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2800
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“The Panicans Were Right About Iran, with Scott Horton.” (09/30/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2800-the-panicans-were-right-about-iran-with-scott-horton/
- TAC Right Now, 09/30/26
Source: The American Conservative
“White House Forges New AI Accord, w/ Yameen Huq.” (09/30/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/tac-right-now-white-house-forges-new-ai-accord-w-yameen-huq/